Does anyone know who plays the Vulcan aide on the left when the Vulcans come aboard? It's the same guy who played Spock's bodyguard in "Mirror, Mirror." Does it look like Bill Blackburn to anyone?
Also, the voice announcing the arrival of the shuttlecraft sounds very familiar. Any guesses about who it might be? --Kurt of North Bend

It doesn't look like Blackburn to me. No idea on who it might be. --Myko 08:20, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)

The fight between Thelev and Kirk is fun to watch, but Kirk's kick move before he is stabbed is, to coin a phrase, highly illogical! Shatner's nauseated look as he sees all the blood from his wound appears very convincing to some, however.

It seems poorly written to me, and highly opinionated. A lot of these bloopers/nitpicks I have been re-writing to sound better, but this one just seems not worth it. --OuroborosCobra 19:47, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

Would it be possible to bring in images from the HD remastered version? Particularly for the image in the upper capsule of the argument between Sarek and the Tellarite ambassadors. --Kitch 13:36, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

When Amanda is begging Spock to go to Sarek, he refuses, and she slaps him (very forcefully!). Is the slapped man Nimoy or a double? If it is a double, he should be recognized for his rare opportunity as a stuntman to full-fledged act, albeit with the back of his head, in a highly emotional scene.

I removed the following items from the background information section:

* John Wheeler, William O'Connell and Reggie Nalder make the most of their small roles, with Nalder's Austrian accent giving a great sense of the exotic to the role of Shras.

We are not Walter Kerr writing a review for the New York Times.

, a convincing piece of animation,

Subjective.

* In the confrontation between Sarek and Gav, the close ups show Gav holding his drink in his left hand but in the long shots, his drink is in his right hand.

Horrors.

* In the scene where they talk about Spock's boyhood pet and also in a sickbay scene, there is tape on the floor, at the bottom of the shot, where the actors are supposed to hit their marks.

Nit, nit, nit ...

And finally, I didn't remove this, but I cleaned it up:

* If you look behind McCoy while Amanda is inquiring about Sarek's condition, you will see the Tantalus field controls used in "Mirror, Mirror"

My great college English teacher once said, "Don't write in the second person ... because I'm not going to do it." -- Bridge 10:09, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

A Few more:

During the same fight Thelev's hands noticeably alternate between Andorian-blue and stunt-man "pink".

Nit

According to Spock, the Orion ship travels at "approximately warp 10" in its first pass.

The Orion ship is destroyed while closing on the Enterprise at sublight, at a range of around 75,000 kilometers.

And? Why restate what is clearly noted in the episode? (If it's trying to imply that Warp 10 is inconsistent...it's not in TOS)

Leonard Nimoy mispronounced "cryogenic" as "cyrogenic" when speaking about what surgery would be appropriate for Sarek's condition. At the time this episode was initially aired, fans picked up on the mistake, with some annoyance that the director hadn't called for a re-take because he thought viewers wouldn't know the difference. Ruth Berman and a few others suggested that perhaps they'd left it because "cyrogenic" could be passed off as a fancy space-age procedure. If so, the term has never been picked up on or used.

Has been uncited for awhile. Seems a bit like "some fans" to me...and rather over the top.– Cleanse 11:01, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

In the original script Sarek and his company were beamed aboard the Enterprise. But after going over budget with the expensive Vulcan, Andorian, Tellarite make-ups and the outer space footage of the Orion ship there was no money left for the transporter effect. Their transportation to the ship by shuttlecraft was decided because it could be made completely by using stock footage from "The Galileo Seven".

Not removed yet, but someone has a source on this? It is very interesting, but seems a bit odd to me: they didn't have the money for the transporter effect but could afford to film a galileo shot?

They didn't film any new effects in the original version of the episode. The Galileo landing was all stock footage.... --JonCruz 20:05, July 7, 2010 (UTC)

According to Uhura, Starfleet says "No authorized Federation vessel in this quadrant". The quadrant that he is referring to is obviously a different kind than the galactic Alpha, Beta, etc., quadrants.

After repeated attacks by the Orion ship, which is armed with "standard phasers", the Enterprise's #4 shield buckles, at which time Kirk orders "auxiliary power", after which Chekov reports "Shields firming up, #4 is still weak, sir."

So?

Kirk says to engineering: "Cut power on the port side, except for phaser banks." It is unclear whether this means there are phasers on the port side somewhere or if he means the port side of the forward banks.

It seems very clear to me: there are phasers on the port side (and on the starboard too, of course).

This episode momentarily breaks the "fourth wall" with McCoy's last line about "finally getting the last word," spoken directly to the camera.

He is pretty clearly not talking to Chapel. From the angle where McCoy is standing, he is not facing Chapel based on where she was standing (next to Spock's bed) in the previous shot. This breaking of the fourth wall has been referred to in many other sources. I don't really think it needs a citation since it's clearly visible IN the episode, but if sticklers want a citation, I think we should find one and put it back in the main article. I was very surprised to see this (oft-mentioned) fact about the episode absent from the main page. --JonCruz 20:05, July 7, 2010 (UTC)

This was one of the last productions that involved Jim Shepherd, who served as Thelev's stunt double herein, as he died in a stunt accident on another show or movie shortly after his work on this installment.

The above, which had an incite tag on it, was removed by an anon user as incorrect information. --31dot 18:49, February 17, 2012 (UTC)

Sometimes, the bridge screen seems to have turned into a window. When the alien vessel explodes, everyone is covering his face.80.141.10.211 18:21, March 14, 2014 (UTC)

The screen probably has the resolution of a window, but that doesn't make it a window. 31dot (talk) 02:44, March 15, 2014 (UTC)

But to me it seems unlikely that a screen would do this to such an extent. Another episode hinting at a window is "Requiem for Methusalem" where the captain is directly looking onto the bridge from outside.54.240.197.233 09:52, March 15, 2014 (UTC)

It is the 23rd century on the show; screen resolution and technology will improve greatly in 200 years. I think most models of the Enterprise don't have a spot for a window on the outside. Now, in JJ Abrams' films, the screen on the Enterprise is a window as well. 31dot (talk) 10:45, March 15, 2014 (UTC)

Very minor, but I noticed that about one minute and 20 seconds into the episode, as the characters are entering the hangar, the sign to the left of the hangar door is mislabeled "hanger deck" when it should be "hangar deck".

Made an account just to say this, I'll leave it up to more experienced community members to decide if this should be mentioned in the article or not. Thanks for all the work you do!! – The preceding unsigned comment was added byLeocul (talk • contribs).

Noting such an error would be a nitpick, which we don't put in articles. 31dot (talk) 19:41, April 8, 2014 (UTC)

Although you could look at it from a production viewpoint rather than as a nitpick since the sign itself is part of the set. --| TrekFanOpen a channel 09:38, April 9, 2014 (UTC)

Maybe that's how its spelled in the 23rd century; languages and spellings change over time. (I assume the set piece was like that throughout the run of the show). That said, if done in a not-nitpickish manner (perhaps like how noting Bill Gocke made it into the original "Unification II" it could get in. 31dot (talk) 09:53, April 9, 2014 (UTC)

Undo of the edit, that Lennard played a Romulan commander before the role of Sarek

Undo comment: a badly fm note the type of which we don't list on episode pages, as it's much more suitable for the page about the actor

Hey come on...this is very interesting info! And the right place is in the "Cast"section of this episode. There is much more trivial stuff in other "Cast" sections for other episodes an a lot of other info which is far less important. eg. I do not really care if a costume is re-used from another episode, but if a main actor played another (major) role in previous season episode it is important!

When I as fan read the background info for this episode, I would be thankful if someone gave a hint that Sarek played the romulan commander in Balance of Terror.
If I want more Info I go to page about the actor.

I also think this is important information and should be in the Cast section.
Other actors who played another character in a different episode are also in Cast sections of an episode.
e.g.. Diana Muldaur who played Dr. Ann Mulhall in "Return to Tomorrow" is also mentioned in the Cast and characters part of this episode for her other role in "Is There in Truth No Beauty?"

Another example of an actor played in more than one episodes is in the Cast section of "The Omega Glory":
Morgan Woodward (USS Exeter Captain Ronald Tracey) had previously played another wild-eyed madman, Simon Van Gelder in "Dagger of the Mind".